William H. Mell is believed to be the first owner of this home, more commonly known today as the Capers Dickson House, for the next owner, William Glen Capers “Judge” Dickson (1845-1914). Dickson was a private in Company 1, Cobb’s Legion, Infantry Batallion. Dickson served as a city judge in the courts of Newton County and was a law professor at Emory College.
The facade of the house is very reminiscent of the Milledgeville Federal style, though the overall floor plan is L-shaped.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This antebellum cottage was built by Dr. Henry Gaither but is most associated with a young woman purported to be a spy for the Confederacy, Izora “Zora” Fair, and is even referred to as the Zora Fair Cottage based upon this history. The history itself may be apocryphal or embellished, however. It posits that while Zora was a refugee from war-ravaged South Carolina, she disguised herself as a mulatto with crushed walnut hulls, sneaked into General Sherman’s headquarters, and overheard his plans for the March to Sea. When she tried to pass this information to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, it was intercepted by Union soldiers, and she hid out in the attic of this house.
Considering that the most recent sources for this information were published in the 1910s, they must be held to some scrutiny, especially since they were published by partisan historians. There must be something to the story; perhaps a more objective modern researcher can put it all together.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house, first known as High Point and originally located at the western edge of Covington, was built for John Pace Carr in the Federal style and is attributed to Collin Rogers. He and his brother Henry built many houses in Georgia in the 1830s, always aided by their enslaved laborers. The home transitioned to its more formal Greek Revival appearance in the 1840s, as was the fashion of the day. The owner, John Pace Carr (1797-1875), was a native of Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1863, Carr sold the house to his daughter Amanda and her husband, Madison Derrell Cody (1824-1875), who was a second cousin of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.
After years of decline, High Point was saved and moved to Oxford by Jim Waterson in 1975. Mr. Waterson’s story of the move is nearly as fascinating as the history of the house itself. After numerous hurdles, the home finally reached Oxford. It was placed on the site of Bishop James Osgood Andrew’s home, Chestnut Grove, which was lost to fire in 1910. The Carr-Cody-Waterson House, as some identify it, was given a more lyrical name by Jim Waterson: “High Point at Chestnut Grove”.
Rust Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was established by Freedmen soon after the Civil War, in 1867. In 1869, a charity of the northern Methodist Episcopal Church known as the Freedmen’s Aid Society established a school and church, named Rust Chapel for Rev. Richard S. Rust, who served as secretary of the society.
The old day chapel which had been used on the Emory College campus was donated to Rust Chapel and moved to this location. After it burned in the early 1900s, the present structure was built. Rust Chapel continued to operate a school, essential in the Jim Crow South, until the construction of a Rosenwald school.
I’m unsure if the church was included in the National Register Historic District when it was created in 1975, but it certainly should be. It’s physically part of the district and of equal importance to other public buildings, so I’m including it for reference.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This historic commercial block, locally known as the “Rock Store”, was constructed of local stone and was originally a combination general store and post office. More recently, it has been known as the McGiboney Building. Today it houses a private residence upstairs and retail/office space on the lower floor. As best I can tell, it’s the only surviving commercial structure from 19th-century Oxford.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Christened “Orna Villa” in 1820 by Dr. Alexander Means, Jr. (1801-1883), this is the oldest house in Oxford, and if the log house from which it was expanded is considered, likely has origins in the 1790s.
In her highly-readable history of the house, current owner Lisa Dorward has done more research than anyone else, it seems. She writes: A Virginian by the name of Richard Keenon Dearing had come to Georgia in 1793 and purchased 2,000 acres of land on which he built a four-room plantation house of hand-hewn logs. Dr. Means bought the house from Dearing around 1820 and set about expanding and remodeling it into the grand Greek Revival house it is today. Among Dr. Means’s many interests was ornithology, so he named his home that stood among the trees, Orna Villa, meaning “Bird House.”
Alexander Means, Jr., was a renaissance man who, as the Oxford Historical Society notes, served as a physician, school teacher, scientist, college professor, poet, college president, statesman, and as the first state chemist in the United States. Born to an Irish immigrant father and Scots-Irish mother in Statesville, North Carolina, Means settled circa 1820 in what would eventually become the town of Oxford. He married Sarah A. E. Winston in 1827 and they had 11 children. He helped establish the Newton County Female Seminary, served as president of the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School, and taught natural sciences at the newly established Emory College, among other academic endeavors. He entertained President Millard Fillmore at Orna Villa, and delivered the funeral oration for President Zachary Taylor. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia, where he taught during winter sessions. He retired from Emory in 1855, after briefly serving as president. Though he traveled and lectured in many locations, he remained at Orna Villa throughout his life.
As accomplished as he was and as varied his interests, Means, was also man of his time Research by Dr. Gary Hauk and Dr. Sally Wolff King suggests that between 20-28 men, women, and children were enslaved at Orna Villa. Ironically perhaps, Dr. Means was initially opposed to secession, but soon became a vocal supporter of the Confederacy.
Orna Villa stands today as one of the most tangible symbols of Oxford and Newton County’s early history. There are quite a few “ghost stories” related to the house, as well, especially those concerning Toby Means, but you’ll have to read Lisa Doward’s articles to learn more about them.
Southeast of Covington near Mansfield is the nearly vanished settlement of Hayston. Marshall McCart, who gives the history of Newton County a digital presence with The Piedmont Chronicles, notes that the community was first settled by Robert Luther Hays, one of 25 children of George Newton Hayes [who later dropped the ‘e’ from his surname], a pioneer settler of Newton County. Robert Luther [who had 18 children himself] and several of his siblings settled in the area that would become Hayston. As McCart notes, the community was largely made up of immediate family.
Nonetheless, it supported stores, industry, and had schools and churches. A Central of Georgia depot once stood in the heart of the community. Robert Luther’s son, Alexander Hays, owned the store pictured in this post, and it later passed to his son, H. S. “Stoney” Hays. It was established in 1883. A post office served the community from 1893-1957. Alexander, and later Stoney, also served as Hayston’s only postmasters.
The Hays Store was restored in the 2000s by one the Hays descendants, Freddie Greer.
From inspiring Margaret Mitchell’s Hollywood vision of Ashley Wilkes’s home, Twelve Oaks, in Gone With the Wind, to appearances in In the Heat of the Night, The Vampire Diaries, Vacation, Life of the Party, The Family That Preys, and other movies and television shows, this magnificent home has perhaps come to symbolize Covington more than any other.
The home was built as a Greek Revival townhouse for Judge John Harris (1803-1878) circa 1836, on a smaller scale. After his country plantation, east of Covington, was occupied by Union troops in 1864, Harris sold his townhouse to William J. Metcalf. Circa 1881, it was sold to Robert Franklin Wright, Sr. (1821-1919). Wright and his wife, Salina Frances Robinson Wright (1831-1905), named it “The Cedars”. Major changes were made to the house after its purchase, in 1903, by Covington Mills owner Nathaniel Snead Turner (1863-1931). Turner later renamed it Whitehall, after adding the colonnade, second floor porch, and a third floor with dormers.
The Harris-Turner House, as it’s also known, is now known as The Twelve Oaks and serves as a popular bed and breakfast inn. It’s a wonder not to be missed when in Covington.
Covington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This is among the first grand houses one sees approaching Covington from the south, and it certainly leaves a lasting impression. Also known as the Lee-Rogers House, Regency Hall was built by Eugene Orson Lee, Sr., (1859-1930) for his wife Tommie Lillian Anderson Lee (1865-1928) and their seven children. Sources vary between 1890 and 1898 as a construction date. According to the Covington Self-Guided Home Tour, Mrs. Lee helped design the house and even worked side-by-side with the carpenters at times. The house originally featured Victorian porches on the first and second floors. I’m unsure when it was converted to its present Neoclassical/Colonial Revival appearance.
Covington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Near the trailhead at Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Center
Arabia Mountain, like its neighbors, Panola Mountain and Stone Mountain, is one of several prominent monadnocks/plutons in Georgia. Monadnocks are roughly defined as isolated rock hills or small mountains rising prominently from a more gently sloping perimeter. Historically, they have all been mined for their raw material. While Stone Mountain and Panola Mountain are composed of granite, Arabia Mountain is composed of gneiss. This is the view as one begins the short hike to the summit at the Klondike Road trailhead within the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Center. There is some confusion as to the name of the summit, as Bradley Peak (954′) and Arabia Mountain (940′) tend to be connected, and some sources note that the actual summit of Arabia Mountain is located near an old quarry, beyond Bradley Peak. Very few maps identify Bradley Peak or Bradley Mountain at all, but it’s a big debate, apparently. Since signage and Department of the Interior identify the site as Arabia Mountain, I’m deferring to those sources in this context.
Cairn marking the trail at Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Center
The parking lot is often full at the Nature Center, so it’s probably best to go on a weekday. The trail is clearly marked with these stone cairns.
Woolly Groundsel (Packera cana)
Several unusual wildflower and native plant species thrive on the mountain. While its fall-blooming yellow daisies may be one of its most iconic symbols, Arabia Mountain is also home to these spring-blooming beauties, tentatively identified as Woolly Groundsel (Packera cana).
Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)
Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) is one of the most colorful and spectacular bloomers at Arabia Mountain.
Small’s Stonecrop, aka Diamorpha (Sedum smallii)
Springtime brings patches of endangered red plants around the solution pits that dot the landscape of Arabia Mountain.
Historically, they have been known as Diamorpha smallii, or simply Diamorpha, but are now classified as Sedum smallii. During their very brief bloom time, they are covered with tiny white flowers.
The flowers are a great aspect of the mountain, but Arabia’s charm lies in its rocky, other-worldly topography.
Nearly every solution pit and pool, whether filled with water or not, is host to a wide variety of vegetation.
The slope itself, from the Nature Preserve access point, has a low rise and is therefore an enjoyable walk for most people.
Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) near the summit
Finding this fringe tree near the summit was a surprise. It was quite windblown, as my hike with friends on Saturday was dominated by non-stop 40+mph gusts.
